Spain’s online casino sector dethrones sports betting amid pandemic

Spain’s online sports betting market took a pandemic hit in the second quarter but online casino games quickly spun into action.

Figures released Friday by Spain’s Dirección General de Ordenación del Juego (DGOJ) regulatory body show locally licensed online gambling operators generated revenue of €208.5m in the three months ending June 30, up 17.7% from the same period last year but down 4.2% from Q1 2020.

The traditionally dominant sports betting vertical earned €68.1m in Q1, down 20.8% year-on-year and off 38.4% sequentially. Both pre-match (-49%) and in-play betting (-39.6%) suffered significant year-on-year turnover declines, while the pandemic halt to most major league play produced a 266.5% rise in ‘other’ bets, the only category to post a year-on-year increase.

Betting’s loss was online casino’s gain, as that vertical’s revenue shot up nearly 45% to €93.5m. Interestingly, while other markets have expressed great fear over pandemic surges in online slots play, Spain’s slots revenue rose slower than the overall category (€51.9m, +30.4%).